The Vandals

Live Fast, Diarrea (1995)

fathead

I don't know why it is, but it's happened countless times to me. I buy an album by a band I don't own yet, and it blows me away. Then when I decide to check out their other stuff, everything falls a little short of that first album I bought. Does anyone else experience this strange trend?

I bought "Live Fast, Diarrea" after seeing the Vandals in Cincy, a loooong time ago. "Let the Bad Times Roll" hit me like a bag of nickles, and the crude, abrassive, lightning fast punk rock did not let up (until "I Have a Date" anyway). In fact, this quickly became my favorite album, and stayed atop my list for a while. I literally listened to it religiously, taking certain messages a little too seriously (I didn't change my pants for over 3 weeks). I played "Supercalifragalisticexpialidosious" for everyone I knew constantly, to the point where I was about to get my ass kicked. I LOVED the Vandals. Then, I heard their other albums. Nothing even came close to this release. There were good songs on all of them, but none of them were as complete as "Live Fast, Diarrea".

To this day, the Vandals have not released an album as good as "Live Fast,Diarrea". Warren rips the axe all the way through, even displaying a possible metal influence on the title track and "Get in Line". Even after all these years, he still has one of my favorite guitar sounds out there. The lyrics are classic, rude, offensive and funny, and Dave's voice is the perfect fit. Drumming duties are filled by Josh Freeze and Brooks Wackerman, and both are down right awesome. Overall, a fast, in-yer-face album that will put the faith back into the hearts of helpless punkers. By FAR, the best Vandals album. It isn't radio friendly love shit (except for "I Have a Date" again), and it IS fast, furious, and full of talent and swear words. What else can a guy with a mohawk ask for?